Our Last Meeting
by SweetSilentSteps
Summary: Mostly will be little ficlets involving different spots along Maria and Sherlock's conjoined timeline. Companion piece to my other story 'Erase and Rewrite'.
1. The Beginning

**I can't stay away from these two! Just too cute for me to write about anything else. So, this will basically be small flashbacks into different parts of Sherlock and Maria's past together, and maybe if I feel like it, some looks into their future past the end of Erase and Rewrite :)**

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Chapter One; The Beginning

_It had been her first day at a new school. Maria had just moved up to London from the country-side and everything was new to her. The buildings, the cabs, even the people were strange. She was scared, though, she would never admit it. She'd always been very brave and noble too. These were just a few of the few things he'd noticed about her, the moment she walked through the school gates._

_Of course, she stuck out. That fiery red hair tumbling down around her face and shoulders, her backpack, swinging off one shoulder and her eyes, the brightest blue he'd ever seen. He had to look away though. It wouldn't take her very long to walk straight past him, sitting under the giant tree right near the gates. His brother had always told him, friends were never any good to you._

_"Um, hello?" A soft melodic voice spoke from next to him and he looked up to see the girl with fiery hair standing over him. She was talking to HIM? He stumbled for words for a moment before his natural Holmes ability kicked in and he began deducing everything about her, the state of her parents' marriage, where she was from, even down to the shampoo she had used last night._

_"They've spotted you with me now; you'll be branded a freak for coming and talking with me first." He finished with, turning his head away from her. What she did next, would forever leave him in shock. She laughed and sat down next to him._

_"Well, I guess I'm screwed then," She said with a cheery laugh. "My name's Maria, by the way. But how did you do that? It was incredible!" She praised. He blinked slowly and turned to look at her._

_"You…you really think so?" He asked and she nodded. _

_"Tell me your name."_

_"Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes."_

As he sat in his last class for the day, he thought back to that morning and meeting that strange girl. She'd gotten lost for most of the day and he'd found himself showing her around just to be near her, just to bask in her presence while he could before she, like all the rest became corrupted and turned on him. He sighed and turned his eyes down onto his notebook; on with he had been absently doodling stick figures. Class held no interest for him at the moment. Usually he would have been the first to engross himself with knowledge but this girl, this strange knew girl was the one mystery he wanted to solve. Why, out of everyone in the yard, had she come to him first?

The bell rang loudly and Sherlock was quick to move to pack his books into his bag, or as many as he could fit, the rest were force to be carried in his hands. He hurried out of the classroom, eager to go find Maria and talk again. Unlike most he found her so easy to talk to. She had a brilliant mind and he had every intention of teaching her to be even more brilliant. She was a clean slate just waiting for knowledge, just like himself. But as he made his way along the corridors, he was confronted, like always.

He stood out. With his dark hair, pale complexion, stunning eyes and his habit of pointing out peoples worst faults hadn't earned him any favours with the bullies in the years above him. He was only 9 years old, barely halfway through grade three, but yet half of the primary school seemed to hate him, including some of the teachers.

"Hey look, it's Mr know it all," The older boy said, slapping Sherlock's books from his grasp. He didn't retaliate however, just leaned down and started to pick them up again, only to be shoved over. "Come on, have a bit fight in you!" Half the corridor had stopped to watch as Sherlock simply pushed himself back to his feet only to be shoved over again.

"Leave him alone!" A defiant young voice broke out and Sherlock looked up to see a red headed girl standing over him protectively. "What did he ever do to you?" She cried before helping Sherlock to his feet.

"Oi, new girl, stay out of this!" The bully hissed but Maria wasn't having it. She picked up one of Sherlock's books and hauled it at him. He only managed to block his face in time before the book smacked into him.

"Beat it bully, I don't stand down to anybody!" Maria cried back before she leaned down and grabbed the books up, shoved them into Sherlock's arms and started dragging him away through the crowd leaving them speechless. Maria waited until they were out of sight before she burst into a fit of laughter.

"I really showed them huh?" She said with a giggle, elbowing him lightly. He simply looked at her with surprise.

"Why would you do that?" He asked looking at her, his shoulders slightly hunched. "Why would you protect me?"

Maria shrugged slightly. "Because I like you Sherlock, you're much nicer than anybody else I've met today." She smiled at him. "I'll walk you home if you want?"

Sherlock blinked then smiled slightly. "Sure."

Sherlock wasn't sure why he agreed to let the girl walk with him towards his home but he couldn't deny that he was enjoying her company. She told him about where she'd come from, and the house she grew up in and all about the farm she lived on. To be honest, he was willing to listen to her for hours. The way she spoke, the life she put into her voice and her actions as she explained the way the hills rolled down into paddocks and the trees lining the horizons. It sounded beautiful to his mind, for whatever reason. And he was happy to find that she lived not too far from him, in fact they were within walking distance of each-other. He opted to drop her off at her place first, before making his own way home.

Somehow, deep within him, he knew that this could either be the start of something incredible or it could be the thing that brought him to his knees.


	2. Best of Friends

Chapter Two; Best of Friends

It had only taken Maria a couple of months for Sherlock to come to trust her completely. Though he didn't register it at the time, he was desperate to have a friend in his young age despite Mycroft trying to drill the thought that friendships were dangerous into his mind. He chose his heart over his mind when it came to her. She had this way of keeping him speaking, thinking, curious, even becoming slightly mischievous when she was in his presence. And now they sat under their tree eating lunch, talking about the class they now shared due to changes in the system.

"I just don't like math Sherlock, I'm not good with numbers…" Maria said before biting furiously into her sandwich.

"Why don't you ask your dad to teach you? You said he was good with numbers." Sherlock replied, absently picking at his cold pasta. Maria scoffed softly.

"Dad? Really? He spends all his time fighting with mum; he doesn't have time for me. Not that I would bother him with it." She said looking down at her ham and cheese sandwich. She hated ham, but her mother constantly forgot. Sherlock looked over at her before offering her some of his pasta. At least he remembered that she hated ham. He was the only one who seemed to remember her sometimes.

"Did you want to come over for a while tonight?" Maria asked suddenly, looking at Sherlock. He blinked slowly.

"I guess so. But what about your mum and dad, shouldn't you ask?"

"I don't wanna be alone Sherlock."

So Sherlock came over that night. He walked with Maria home like usual and she didn't pause at the door pulling it open to find the house empty.

"They must be out…" Maria mused, throwing her bag down in the hallway before making her way into the kitchen. Sherlock followed after her quietly. It wasn't that he hadn't been here before. Truthfully he'd been over several times already, but that was only when her parents had been home. Maria didn't seem to mind though and she picked up the remote and flicked on the telly. She waved him into the sitting room before plonking herself down on the couch.

"Did you want anything to eat?"

"I'm alright." He shook his head and sat down beside her. He never could seem to stand mindless telly but he could tell Maria needed it to keep herself occupied, keep her mind off her situation both at school and at home. So he sat there in silence, letting the words simply bounce off him, not taking anything in, not even realising what they were watching until Maria started yelling.

"That's a red card umpy! You bloody idiot!" She cried, waving her fist at the telly like a mad woman. Then she seemed to realise she wasn't alone and turned to look at Sherlock. He wasn't sure if it was her expression or the fact she was shouting at nothing that caused him to burst out laughing. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed as much as this. Seeing her expression grow furious at him only made him double over even worse to the point he was almost falling off the couch. Needless to say, Maria wasn't impressed at his reaction and she pushed him off the couch. He landed on the floor in a heap, still giggling like a girl.

"I'm going to hurt you." She warned and his reply was to giggle once again. "I mean it!"

"Try your best!" He dared, rolling to avoid her when she attempted to jump on him. She managed to get up before he could and tackled him wildly, taking them both back to the floor. They rolled and Maria pinned him down with a smirk.

"Pinned ya!" She declared, sitting on top of him, trying to squish him. He wriggled underneath her, trying his best to push her off. It didn't help that he was a stick, but then again so was she. He managed to grab her wrists and flip them, pinning her down instead.

"What was that?" He questioned as she tugged her wrist free and shoved him back hard. He tumbled back off her, cashing into the leg of a table. He looked up in time to move, and pull Maria out of harm's way, before the pot could fall on them.

The crash was deafening to Maria's ears.

Sherlock had shielded her from the debris that might have flown up and hit them, so she couldn't see the damage yet. But she shook, shook from fear. Her mother loved that pot and she could only dread what would happen when her mother found they had smashed it, accidentally or not.

"Maria?" Sherlock's quiet whisper reached her and she looked up to see his eyes glazed with concern. "Are you hurt?"

"The pot, Sherlock my mother's going to kill me…" Was all she could say. He stood and helped her to her feet and she dared to look at the broken shards of her mother's favourite pot. She allowed Sherlock to guide her over to the couch before the sound of a car pulling in reached her ears. She froze and Sherlock turned to look at the door.

"Go to my room and hide under the bed," Maria suddenly ordered, turning to Sherlock, who blinked at her. "You're not supposed to be here and if she finds you I doubt she'll ever let you come over again, please! Go!" She said shoving him out of the room. He looked back at her before ducking down the corridor to her room. Maria stayed put in the living room, preparing herself for the rollercoaster she was in for when her mother saw the state of her pot.


End file.
